1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic/online advertisements, and in particular, to a method, apparatus, system, computer program product, and article of manufacture for conducting an auction/exchange for online advertisements based on an advertisement purchaser's specifications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advertisers try to reach consumers using a variety of delivery mechanisms including via web-based advertising on the Internet and commercial broadcast advertising. Advertisements may be presented to potential consumers on a variety of presentation devices including televisions and/or portable devices [e.g., cellular devices, personal digital assistants, tablet computers, etc.]. In this regard and as used herein, an advertising impression is an individual instance when an advertisement (ad) is shown to a particular user. For example, when a user selects a web page to view, that instance of the web page may provide one or more opportunities for an ad impression (also referred to as an “impression”). If the user selects to view another web page, the other web page may provide one or more additional opportunities for an ad impression, i.e., another instance when an ad can be presented to the user.
Prior art mechanisms for advertisers to purchase an impression often utilize an online exchange where advertisers submit bids for one or more impressions (e.g., an auction for the impressions). Traditionally, bidding in an online exchange is done by: identifying the target audience (collective profile of portrayed users)(e.g., using demographic information); selecting the sites and parameters of the advertising campaign; and selecting a maximum bid for the ad exchange auction. Such a system merely provides a minimal amount of detail regarding the ad impression(s) the advertiser is bidding on. Further, such a system fails to provide the advertiser with the capability to negotiate an optimal advertisement campaign with multiple publishers (i.e., entities that have advertisement impressions for sale).
To better understand the problems of the prior art, a description of prior art advertisement technology may be useful.
Over the past few years, there has been a tremendous increase in ad inventory and demand (including video, display, and other ads across desktop, mobile, smart televisions, etc.). To better capitalize on the explosion of growth, some advertising markets have shifted into programmatic buying. Such a shift has lead to the commoditization of ad inventory, resulting in lower-quality executions being undifferentiated from higher-quality placements, ultimately leading to a diminished value that brands derive from their advertising.
To overcome such problems, the assignee of the present invention has created and provided an independent marketplace solution where both advertisers and publishers can transact through a trusted, independent third-party partner. Such a solution overcomes problems relating to ad inventory that has been overly commoditized due to a combination of very high demand and a lack of standards around quality. Such a solution also assesses the quality of inventory en masse and presents such an assessment to a marketplace for advertisers to buy at scale.
Using the solution offered by the assignee of the present invention (or others), two primary methods/models are often utilized to acquire impressions. In a first model, a fixed price is paid for a guaranteed number of advertising impressions. For example, an advertiser may pay $15 and receive a defined number of impressions. Some systems only allow a certain preferred set of companies to purchase advertisement impressions under this model (e.g., an advertising/media purchasing entity).
The second model for purchasing advertising is referred to as a second price auction or real time selling. In such a model, an entity programmatically buys advertisement space (e.g., via a guaranteed price model) and attempts to sell individual/sets of impressions on the secondary market via an auction/bidding system. In such a model, for every impression that arrives, a request for a bid for that advertisement is issued to one or more interested parties (e.g., a media purchasing entity, an advertisement firm, individuals, etc.). Such a bid request may provide information about the impression (e.g., the website, possible demographic information, etc.) and requests a bid. In response, bids are received and the highest bidder is awarded the impression. In a second price auction, the name of the actual advertiser (and not the middleman that is attempting to purchase the advertisement impression) may be provided/required in a submitted bid. In other words, the programmatic buyer may submit bids on behalf of individual advertisers for advertisement space. Alternatively, the programmatic buyer may sell the (already purchased) advertisement space to individual advertisers via a bidding process maintained by the programmatic buyer.
In the television industry, advertisement sales may be negotiated in what is referred to as an “upfront”. In this regard, periodically, advertisement agencies meet with advertisement networks and negotiate a deal (e.g., an agreement to spend x dollars on a network over a defined time period (e.g., six [6] months or a year). Such an upfront is difficult in the online world due to the unpredictability and details associated with online advertising. Accordingly, prior art methods have failed to provide any upfront capability or have failed to gain acceptance due to a failure to address this unpredictability with respect to online advertising.
To better understand the background and advertising industry, a brief history of Internet based advertising may be useful. FIG. 1 illustrates an advertising ecosystem of the prior art. In early ecosystems, an advertiser (or agency of the advertiser) 102 directly bought ad space (referred to as ad inventory) on a website of a website owner/publisher 104. The inventory of ads was often in the form of ad impressions (as defined above). Over time, as the number of websites increased, ad space on the websites 104 exceeded the purchased ads leaving a large number of unpurchased inventory. Consequently, ad networks 106 evolved and acted as a sales broker, purchasing the ad inventory and selling packaged inventory to the buyer 102 thereby making it easier for the buyer 102 to target specific consumers. Multiple ad networks 106 resulted with each network 106 using different technology and systems. Advertisers 102 often utilized multiple ad networks 106 resulting in the targeting, presentation, and purchase of the same consumer/audience more than once.
Ad exchanges 108 evolved and provided the ability for advertisers to trade audiences instead of inventory. Sellers/publishers 104 offered their audience on the exchange 108, and purchasers 102 could purchase the audience (after which ads were delivered to the purchased audience). As a result, advertising could be purchased via both ad networks 106 and ad exchanges 108. To improve the sale and purchase of ads and increase efficiency, various agencies 102 created their own proprietary agency trading desks (ATD) 110 or demand side platforms (DSP) 112. ATD 110 and/or DSP 112 provided the ability for the agencies 102 to trade on the ad exchange 108 efficiently and in real time (using data to influence their decision making) Some publishers 104 sold directly on the exchange 108 while other publishers 104 invested in sell side platforms (SSP) 114 that optimized selling points for the publisher 104.
One of the side effects of the such an ecosystem is that publisher ad impressions (“inventory”) is often commoditized with the inventory of millions of other websites without the inventory buyer 102 (advertiser or agency on their behalf) fully knowing where and how the inventory is sourced. Without placement transparency, the main differentiator of value is only “audience” (the user's interest and behaviors) targeting.